UNC Basketball star Armando Bacot

This is the best of the Adam Gold Show Podcast brought to you by Coach Pete at Capital Financial Advisory Group.

Visit us at capitalfinancialusa.com. This is the Adam Gold Show. Talk a little canes here coming up in about 20 minutes. Somebody who plays basketball at North Carolina. I wish I could tell you who it is. I don't know who's coming on. But they're having a little meet and greet with the media.

We'll all be surprised. It might be Armando Bacon. It might be R.J. Davis. It might be Caleb Love.

It might be Leaky Black. I don't know. I really don't know. But heck, it might be Puff Johnson.

I honestly do not know. But somebody from UNC will join us in about 20 minutes. All right. We heard Brent Burns in the return here for our number three. Burns, the biggest of Carolina's additions on the first day of NHL free agency, even though he was not a free agent signing. Brent Burns, Max Pacioretti, Andre Kasha, Corey Lavallett. He's been around.

He was not added as a free agent. But we have his phone number. So let's talk hurricanes.

North State Journal, Hurricanes Beat reporter and columnist. Sir, how are you? We're almost ready to get back to work. We got like another month and a half.

Yeah, doing well, A.G. Just got a little bit more time. It seems like it all happens pretty quickly, doesn't it? It does. It does. Even though it was pushed a little bit later this year with free agency starting about two weeks later, based on the calendar of the season. All right. So we heard Brent Burns.

Let's start there. And just your thoughts on the upgrade over Tony DeAngelo. And I say this because and I loved Tony. I thought Tony was great for this team. But what is Brent Burns bring that Tony DeAngelo couldn't?

Well, I think there's a little bit more of a maybe a score mentality than what Tony had. You know, Brent's a really, really skilled guy. I mean, if you watch the kind of goals he scores, it's not like he stands at the blue line and and just rip shot.

Now he can do that. But at the same time, amazing hands. I mean, you know, can make plays in tight that you wouldn't expect from a guy that size, especially a defense minute.

So there's that. And then I think just the bigger body. I mean, I know the NHL is moving more toward, you know, the size maybe isn't as important. But you can't you know, you put a six five guy in front of your own net and the defensive end and that helps.

Oh, there's I don't think there's any question. The fact is, is that he's also used to playing a ton of minutes. Not that he's ever going to have to play 26 minutes for the Hurricanes because Jacob Slavin, unless he's the only NHL defenseman on the roster that particular night, isn't playing 26 minutes. But it's somebody that can probably partner with Slavin to play 22 or 23. I actually think he'll get better in terms of his physicality, his maybe his production by playing fewer minutes.

Is that possible? Yeah, I mean, and I think, you know, he's going to play with some really skilled players on the power play to, you know, San Jose hasn't, you know, been in the best situation the last few years, you know, a couple years ago. They were, you know, in the playoffs and whatnot, but he's stepping into a great situation, especially when you consider the other guy, the other big name guy they added.

So I think points could certainly go up and then, you know, we'll see how things go at even strength. Obviously, you know, Tony's a really talented guy and can do a lot with the puck. But like I said, Brent Burns, I think, will surprise a lot of people with how skilled he really is. He's not just a big guy back there who's destroying the puck every time he can make some really skilled plays. Yeah, I bet he gets back to shooting the puck more, which he's sort of gotten away from the last several years, even though he's playing 26 minutes. His shot total is down almost 130 from a few years ago, and I think they have asked him to do different things, and now he can go back to doing what he really wants to do and what he does best. Again, I'm assuming that he'll play with Jacob Slavin, it seems to make the most sense.

Corey Lavelette, NorthStateJournal, at CoreyLave on Twitter. You alluded to Max Pacioretty, who they essentially were given by the Vegas Golden Knights. I mean, that's what future consideration says to me. We want nothing from you, but the Hurricanes took the salary for one year of Max Pacioretty because Vegas is well over the cap and they need to get Jack Eichel on the ice, as well as some of their other players. What can Pacioretty bring to Carolina, and we have to hope that he will stay healthy, which he has not generally in his career.

Yeah, I mean, I can see that there's concerns about the health stuff, and when we talked to him, he said this year was a little fluky with a couple broken bones, which that can happen to anybody, as we've seen. It's not like he's been hugely injury-prone, but he's one of those guys who tends to miss his 10 or 15 games a year, and as long as you're healthy, come playoff time, I think, then you can take that, especially if you're this roster. As far as what he brings, I mean, he's an immensely talented guy.

I was fortunate in my previous job that I worked on a University of Michigan publication, and so I saw Pacioretty when he spent his one year at Michigan, and I've kind of watched him because I remember him coming through college, being recruited and all that. And again, like Burns, a really, really talented guy, and I think one of the key things about him is he can create scoring chances on his own. He's not a trigger man, so to speak, where you're looking for a guy that can set him up to score all the time, and he finishes. He can do it on his own, too, and I think that's what's really exciting is for as big of a loss as Nino is, if you look back at what Max has done throughout his career, this is a guy who scores a ton of even-strength goals. I mean, it's not like he's just a power play guy. He's not even really a power play guy, so to speak. He'll score on the power play, but he's made his money. He's made his mark as an even-strength player, and no matter where they end up putting him, I mean, he's going to create chances on his own, and you mentioned shot attempts and shots on goal with Brent Burns.

Perhaps you're ready. He could have 250 shots this year if he's in the right situation. Corey Lavallett, North State Journal is joining us here. Canes, I think they're done.

Andre Kasha was the free agent signing. Before I ask you just to comment on him, they've already started bringing in what amounts to veteran players on a two-way deal, which means they're probably going to go to the Chicago Wolves in the American Hockey League. Do you think they're done, other than possibly Ethan Bear, who's filed for arbitration, and Martin Neches?

Yeah, and I think both those things will get done one way or another. The one thing that stands out to me is I know Rod would prefer to have even number of left-handed and right-handed defensemen playing, and right now, unlike last year when there was a wealth of left-handed guys, now you look at the roster and there's a wealth of right-handed guys. The addition of Burns obviously takes over DeAngelo's spot, but then Dylan Coughlin who came in the Pacioretty deal, Jalen Chatfield is probably going to have a good chance to make this team.

You've got Ethan Bear, like you mentioned. Those are all right-handed guys. Right now, it's just Shea and Slavin on the left side, and then the question mark, of course, of what happens with Jake Gardner. So, to me, the one place is if Jake is, and they're saying he's going to be ready to go for camp, and we'll see what happens there, and if Jake can play, I mean, we know he's a talented player when he's healthy. The question is how healthy is he and how much does a year, really almost two years, of not playing take out of him, but the one thing that stands out to me is maybe some depth on the left side of the defense. Because even once you get past those guys I mentioned, there's Max Lajoie, who I guess has a chance, and Jesper Selgren's another guy, but even Joey Kean's right-handed. So, that's the one area where I could see if something is available on the cheap, and especially if something happens and the Ethan Bear stuff doesn't work itself out, I could see them adding a left-handed defenseman. But other than that, I think you're good to go. Yeah, okay.

Well, so here's where I am with this, and feel free to disagree, which I know you never, you're not shy about that, and it's why I like talking to you about these things. I look at this roster, and there are three glaring weaknesses for me. There's no right-handed center.

None. Unless Martin Neches takes face-offs, and he's not great at it. So, there's no step on or trochek, or anybody who will play center, plays on the right side. I'm not crazy about the third pair, regardless who that group is. I really don't think Jake Gardner is going to play for the Hurricanes, because if he does, I don't know how they sign Neches and another, and they can't sign Neches and Bear with their remaining cap room. And I still think they need an element of grittiness to, like, who's going to play with Stahl and Jesper Faust on that line? Those three things are worrisome to me.

Yeah, I can see the concern with all that stuff. The big question, I guess, maybe not for this year, but in the long term is, is Steph Jarvis a center? Because if he is, then obviously you don't want to go and spend big money on a right-handed center if you think he's in your top six for the future. You know, I don't worry so much about face-offs, because Rod tends to like to use the wingers on the side when he needs to and things like that. So, like you said, there's Neches, there's Jarvis, if those guys can do a good job in the middle, then it's not terrible. As for who plays with Jordan Stahl, I could see Pacioretty there. If Kasia is healthy, I could see him there. There's so many options that it's pretty interesting to think about what they could do in that spot.

Now, the one weird spot in all this is kind of on the right side, things get a little crowded. So, we'll see. I know Andrei Svechnikov hasn't been thrilled playing with Jordan Stahl in the past, so I don't really see that happening. You have to figure that out, but at the same time, with the way the fourth line could be constructed, because I think Drury's on this team next year, if your fourth line is Jack Drury, Andrei Kasia, and Martin Neches, or something of that ilk, all of a sudden maybe the Jordan Stahl line doesn't have to play as many minutes as it has in the past.

It becomes a legitimate fourth line, checking line, identity line, which the Islanders had for a long, long time. We need to talk more about this as we get closer to training camp, Corey Lavelette. Is that a deal? Yeah, absolutely, buddy. All right, man.

I'll talk to you very soon. Corey Lavelette, NorthState Journal, at Corey Lavelette on Twitter. When we come back, Dennis, we know who it's going to be. No, we don't. Armando Bacon will join us next.

Adam Gold in studio with my friend, Coach Pete DeRuta with the Capital Financial Advisory Group. We are talking retirement. Coach, how does longevity risk figure into our retirement and income plan?

Well, this is the best of times and the worst of times, Adam. Longevity risk means we're going to live too long. But to me, every day I live is not too long.

Right, absolutely. So we want our money to outlive us. And unfortunately, many people I've seen, you out there listening, maybe one of them, your money is not designed to outlive you. You might outlive your money and that's not what we want to have happen. Because when we get to that day after you run out of money, it's not going to be a fun time. So let's design a plan that guarantees you'll never run out of money. We call it the GPI plan, Growth Protection Lifetime Income, for the next 10 people. This is a golden ticket, Adam. A thousand dollar value, we're going to do it at no cost or obligation. And all you have to do is call, we make it so easy.

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Armando Bacott of North Carolina will join us in a matter of moments. We'll talk a little bit more about this at the bottom of the hour. I want to get into a little bit more of the Open Championship and Cam Smith and Rory McIlroy's disappointment.

Do you? No, but it's something that should be discussed. And it was, it was a tremendous, tremendous golf tournament. It's, it's why people are hooked on major championship golf. It went right down to the final hole. It was, it was a shootout to an extent all weekend long, even though Rory didn't make anything he looked at really for, it's not really just yesterday. I would argue that Rory left a good six or seven shots out at St. Andrews over the course of 72 holes.

But so did Cam, Cam Dave, Cam Smith left some shots out there too. Anyway, what's the, like the number one topic in golf for the last two months has been the live golf series. They're about to make a whole bunch of news. Seriously. Now it's possible, although not confirmed, it's been rumored that Cam Smith himself is going to leave the PGA Tour to go play the live tour. But how about this? David Farity is going to leave NBC and become a broadcaster for a tour that's not on TV.

Okay, that is incredible. I'm sure they paid him a slew of money because it doesn't matter. Henrik Stenson, who is the European Ryder Cup captain for now, is also, I don't think the announcement is official, but as soon as it is official, he will no longer be the European Ryder Cup captain. I don't even understand why live golf wants Henrik Stenson. Even when he was at the height of his game.

He's not a draw. Now, nobody tunes in to watch Henrik Stenson unless he's playing in his underwear. Go do a Google search for that Henrik Stenson underwear and you'll see Henrik Stenson playing a shot with standing in a lake just in his briefs. Am I going to get fired? No, no, it's fine. It'll be a golf site.

Don't use the old 5G. Don't go to HoleInOne.com, but I'm just saying if you do Henrik Stenson underwear, you'll probably pull up Henrik Stenson's swing standing in a lake. I like my job, Adam. So I don't get that. And the other part of this story is Sergio Garcia says he's going to quit the European tour because he doesn't feel loved.

He doesn't feel loved. And it's just stunning. But all of these things are happening. There's a lot of news that is about to be made from the live series. A lot of new players are going to jump. Some will wait until after the tour championship because there's about three events, I believe, after the tour championship. Some will wait till then.

But I think most are going to go in the next, maybe all this week. June 19th, 2006. But it all started May 6th, 1997, with the announcement that the Hartford Whalers were coming to North Carolina. It's a story of transition, of heartbreak, of figuring it out on the fly. Here's a Canes Corner look at the 25th anniversary of the move, presented by the Aluminum Company of North Carolina.

Listen now. Find Canes' 25th anniversary wherever you get your podcasts. Armando Bacott returns for his senior season at UNC. They had a little media session and we are fortunate enough that our friends at UNC handed Armando a telephone to talk to us for a couple minutes. How has your off-season been? How has your summer been? It's been great. This off-season I've really got a big chance to just be able to work on my game. Last off-season I was trying to out a little bit, just with some things. But this season I've been having a chance to really just get better, which has been great. I'm glad. Look, I don't know how much better you can get.

Almost 57% shooting, 16 and a half points, 13 rebounds. Look, there was a time last year when Mike Krzyzewski called you the player of the year in the league. And then you went and you spoiled his final game at home.

Why'd you go do that? Yeah, I mean, me and Coach K, we got a great relationship. I mean, he's a great guy. Obviously one of the greatest coaches of all time.

But yeah, I mean, what he stated was facts. I mean, it was tough not winning an ACC player of the year. That was one of my goals. But Roy Williams and Coach Davis and Coach Williams all believed I was the player of the year.

So that was good enough for me. Well, look, your peers and your coaches and I know your teammates look at you. You were such a warrior last year because there wasn't a lot. Although Brady Manick had a second half of the year, not to be believed.

But there was, you didn't have a lot of help inside and you played hobbled for a good portion of it. Where was the turning point for you guys last year? Because it seemed, whether it was the game at Wake Forest or even the home game against Pitt, there was a lot of negativity from outside of the program.

So how did that happen at the end of the year? Yeah, I mean, I would just say after we lost to Wake Forest, after that, we really just came together as players and just said, it's us versus everybody and we just didn't worry about any outside noise and we really just locked in. I mean, we dropped that game to Pitt, but outside of that, we were playing like great basketball from then and there and we just started really playing together as a team and we kind of got a definitive idea of all our roles and how we wanted to play as a team.

How did Hubert Davis help guide you through all that? Yeah, I mean, he made a few tweaks to the offense, but I mean, really it was just how encouraging he was. He just told us that he was just so proud of us to even get to that point. I mean, that's not something you really hear after you lose to a team by 20 points that you're better than. And I think that really just made us all want to just play even harder for them.

Yeah, it was interesting. I talked to Hubert not that long after the game and he had some very, very pointed criticism. You know, when was the last time you heard a North Carolina team and Hubert, the head coach saying they're better than us. And so what kind of a wake-up call was that? Yeah, I mean, I think he just did that to really light a fire on us.

I mean, he knows how to push our buttons and I mean, I'm all for it. It was definitely motivating for all of us and I mean, I thought that was great by a coach to do that. Alright, so let's get into the game at Cameron, which there were times, especially considering that they had had their way with you in Chapel Hill a few weeks prior. There were times where it looked like they were trying to deliver a knockout blow. How did you guys survive that and then come back and do what you did in the second half? Yeah, I mean, we just really just came in just mad and angry just because the whole week it was no talk about us and they thought it was going to be a walk in the park and I mean, we just felt like we just weren't respected. So we wanted to come in there and just really just take it to them.

We knew we had to throw the first punch because I mean, it was a hostile environment. Is that as much fun? I don't even know how you describe meeting in the Final Four, how you compare a meeting in the Final Four or that game at Cameron Indoor Stadium. But was the game at Cameron as much fun as you've had playing basketball?

Definitely. I mean, it was my birthday that night too. So it was a great day for me, for sure. I didn't know it was your birthday. Happy birthday.

Yeah, it's my birthday, March 6th. So right after we won that game, we went out, had fun, had the whole school. So I mean, they don't get no better than that. Wow. All right. So, so for the people outside, everybody talks about the rivalry and I joked with John Shire last week. How does, is there a way back for Duke in the rivalry when you think like those the two autumn, I mean, biggest games that the rivalry will ever see and you guys won them. Did you end it?

Oh, no, I wouldn't say we ended. I feel like that's kind of disrespectful just to the rivalry in general and all the great players that have played in it for both sides. I mean, we did win and there was a lot of bragging rights, but I mean, the science ended off two games.

Yeah, it was two huge high stakes games. I feel like this rivalry is too great for that to happen. And I mean, we'll be playing them again for another 100, 200 years, hopefully, as long as the world don't end. So I wouldn't say it'll be over, but I mean, it's definitely some bragging rights for the fans, but I mean, we want to approach these two games, three games.

How many times are we playing this year? Just like it was, you know, how we approach those games because I mean, if they beat us, then I mean, they got the bragging rights, really. I mean, those players weren't there when we beat them. That's true.

I got two more questions and we'll let you go, Armando Bacon, I appreciate your time. How different in terms of a feel leading up to the game at the Final Four was that from the game at Cameron? Yeah, I mean, the Final Four one, I mean, you playing in front of 70, 80,000 people. So, I mean, it was just crazy. And I mean, I knew how high stakes it was. Like, we all wanted to go to the national championship, but I mean, Duke versus USA in the Final Four, it never happened.

And I mean, you open your TV, see Stephen A. Smith talking about it, all these great reporters. I mean, it was just crazy. It was unreal. It was, it was an absolute, it turned everybody here on its ear.

All right, now, you could, however you want to answer this is fine. Why did you come back for one more year? Right after the national championship game, we just all came together and we just said we wanted to get another crack at it. We had so much fun in March and April, and it was just something we never got to experience. We just wanted another taste in it and hopefully do it the right way. All right, I know everybody misses Brady Manick, that run that he had.

Yeah, I know, it was amazing. Holy cow, I still can't figure out why he's not on an NBA roster because 6'10 guys who can shoot and have that kind of a beard? My gosh, who's got the beard now? Exactly, he'll find a way though. He's going to be good.

He'll be on the team. All right, well, I'm rooting for you, Armando Bacott. I appreciate your time, man. Good luck. I hope your, I hope your wheels are healed from, from the offseason. We'll see, we'll talk to you soon.

Yes, sir, appreciate it. You got it, Armando Bacott, UNC center, and probably going to be the preseason player of the year in the ACC. By the way, Brady Manick was with the Hornets some during the summer league here. Yeah, he's got to get on a roster. Yeah. 6'10 guys who can shoot it the way he can shoot it, and I think one of the things that impressed me, now I'm not expecting it, he's not going to be a shut down defensive guy.

No. But he competed on the defensive end. I don't see any reason why somebody like Manick can't play in the league. He matched up with Bancaro a lot. Yeah.

In the Final Four game. His size bothered Bancaro. Yeah. There's no doubt about it. And we, look, I think Paulo Bancaro is going to take his game to a level that Brady Manick can't get to.

Sure. Last year, we just saw him compete, and that's all he had to do was compete, make it tough. And he did a great job doing that. This is the Adam Gold Show. Off of the crossbar, and the Hurricanes have won the Stanley Cup. June 19, 2006, but it all started May 6, 1997, with the announcement that the Hartford Whalers were coming to North Carolina. It's a story of transition, of heartbreak, of figuring it out on the fly. The Canes Corner look at the 25th anniversary of the move. Presented by the Aluminum Company of North Carolina. Listen now. Find Canes' 25th anniversary wherever you get your podcasts.